So, for all of you that said she had weak pasterns, I'm going to post the picture here, and probably start a new thread with it since it's been so long. Here's a picture of Pepper's pasterns on concrete, a few wks after her first trim by our farrier.

The length concerns me, especially in a horse doing hardwork. She's got a decent angle, but upright isn't a whole lot better then to much slope. She'll probably hold up better then a horse with a more severe slope (tendon and ligament strain), but I'd still be concerned about pasterns that long.

Fine a very short pasterned stud and pray :lol:

PaintHorseMares

06-09-2010 10:01 PM

I resisted posting, but after reading your referenced posts about what a good cow horse she is, I'll go ahead and give a little history and my 2 cents.

Years ago our lead mare, Angel, got comments that she was 1) too long backed to make a good cow horse and 2) low heeled/thin soled and would need to always have shoes (she always looks like her toes are a bit too long).

She turned out to be a laid back, do anything, go anywhere, 'cowy' horse that is a great penner and has been barefoot for 12+ years and never lame a day. Her daughter has the same disposition/cow sense and is being used as a roper, and her young grand daughter appears to have inherited the cow traits, too. Now, seeing three generations, folks are asking if we would consider breeding Angel again before she gets too much older (she is 16yrs).

So, my 2 cents...

From your post...

Quote:

This is my husband's go-to horse. We had her in Montana for 6 months, and she did better on the land with the footing and lack thereof than 95% of the rest of the herd that were raised on the rough grounds.

She is SUPER cowy, and is being worked on the dummy to learn to "technically" cut, so that we can use her for penning and sorting, and other piddles. I will breakaway on her, and Chris already ropes and drags with her, no questions. (She's just not big enough for bulls...) She has all the heart one could ask for, and a supreme mind. Smart, trainable, and heavily motored

...I wouldn't hesitate to consider breeding her, long pasterns or not. These are the kind of horses that many people wish they had.

MacabreMikolaj

06-09-2010 10:16 PM

^
Fluke doesn't mean we should assume every slightly talented horse will produce the same.

OhSoAppy

06-09-2010 10:26 PM

I don't see long, weak pasterns at all with this mare.

MacabreMikolaj

06-09-2010 10:32 PM

^ I don't necessarily see weak pasterns, as they're not overly sloped, but a long upright pastern can cause performance issues. A shorter sloped pastern is most desirable for hard work.

ridergirl23

06-09-2010 10:50 PM

but how many times out of ten will a long upright pasturn make a horse lame? I've seen hundreds of horses with issues that shouldn't even make then be able to hold a parson on they're back... But they haven't had a lame day in they're life. Personally, if I loved ( and I don't mean mushy love, I mean, she has every single trait I could ever want) then I would breed her. Every horse has a conformation flaw, or a flaw in they're mind, pasturns like that would be the least of my worries when breeding.Posted via Mobile Device

westonsma

06-10-2010 06:20 AM

Maybe I should point out that she wears an 0 shoe? I think that the biggest problem she has possessed is that her feet are too small. Not so much now that she's in athlete-shape, but when she was heavy, she was walking around on stilts looked like. I'll get you all some updated confo shots, and I am probably going to be posting some befores and afters in the critique section.

I'm a little lost at the fact that she's lost so much weight so quickly, we have upped her feed, and are monitoring her closely to get just that perfect combination of calories and work. She came to us WAAAAAY overweight, and we thought she was a little harder keeper than what she actually turned out to be. She wasn't sweating much during those 15-20mi a day in MT like she does in the hour or two she's rode here in KS with all the heat and humidity! I hate that she's bleaching out, because people still confuse her with a brown or bay horse, even though she is black. Breaks my heart. Her color is what made her stand out in the barn full of sorrels and bays and roans! I can't say anymore, "Mine's the black one!" because there are now like, 30 with the same color now that she's bleached! ; )

I'm going to the barn to prep for our first show, a breast cancer fundraiser, around lunch today, and I will be sure to post some pictures! (Not to mention, I'm roughly 15wks pregnant, and getting to the point where my riding is slowing back down! This may be our only show this year!) Both of the prepping today, and the show on Saturday and Sunday!!